Today while walking I thought I had spotted the Pope Lick Monster, https://crookedcreek.live/2018/05/23/pope-lick-park/ but it turned out to be just another tree. I wanted to share it with you regardless.
She wasn’t shy. I talked with her a while and didn’t want to disturb her by getting out my phone to photograph her. After a friendly conversation, I realized she wasn’t in a hurry nor was she worried about this human. Here she is for you to enjoy.
A tree, old and weathered
I bear not leaves,
but the marks of time.
On my limbs you can see
rope scars where swings used to be.
I am a tree.
A tree, tall though bent
I bear not fruit,
but the signs of time.
On my trunk, crudely carved,
initials and hearts you can see.
I am a tree.
A tree, in winter I appear cold and dead,
but deep in the earth my roots are warm with life.
They feed my tired trunk, give strength to my weakened limbs
and the sap of life itself which awaits the returning spring.
I long to be renewed, to return to the real me.
I am a living tree.
Written 1992 by Brenda Sue Baugh Mattingly
Crooked Creek by Sue Mattingly 